Nigeria oil production rebounds to 2.07 million b/d in April

Nigeria’s oil production rebounded to 2.07 million b/d in April this year, after it slipped to 2.02 million b/d in the preceding month, according to estimates released Thursday by the oil ministry. The ministry figures showed that oil production including condensates averaged 2,069,784 b/d in April, up from March and about 11% higher than 1.85 million b/d for April last year. Nigeria has continued to ramp up production following the lull in militancy in the country’s main oil-producing Niger Delta region. However, after several months of steady growth, output slipped in March, which industry officials attributed to pockets of illegal tapping into pipelines in the delta.

Oil accounts for around 80% of Nigerian government export revenues. The government set a production assumption of 2.3 million b/d for this year’s budget from which it hopes will earn around $8 billion in revenue. A spokesman for the oil ministry said Thursday Nigeria remained on track to meet the oil production target. “Government will continue to sustain a peaceful environment for companies to be able to operate at their maximum capacity,” the spokesman said.